Spin-offs of the Spiral: Gabriel's Very Merry Christmas Carol
by AlliyahTheAuthor
Summary: It's Christmas in the Spiral! Snow is falling, wizards are exchanging gifts, and everyone is in such a joyful mood. Well...all except for Gabriel WinterBreeze... Read along as Christmas Past, Present, and Future give him a lesson on what Christmas is really about! Will Gabriel succeed not only learn to take control of his present, but his past and future, as well?
1. Prologue

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR! WOOOOOOOO!**

 **Okay, now I'm in the holiday spirit ;). Welcome to - Jingle bells! - the Saviors of the - Deck the halls! - Spiral's - walking around the Christmas tree! - version of - Give us some figgy pudding - OKAY, ENOUGH OF THAT! Gosh! Starting over.**

 **Welcome to the Saviors of the Spiral's version of A Christmas Carol! It takes place, like, um...Lets say...A little after Morgan and Haley first came! Yeah, that works. Okay, Merry Christmas (or Happy Christmas, if you prefer XD) again, and have a good time reading! Fruitcake! [ ' ] [ ' ] [ ' ]**

* * *

 _Snowflakes fell onto the heads of two children, fists balled white, standing in the cold winter of Wizard City. Neither were happy, and neither were in the Christmas spirit, either._

 _"Take it back!"_ _Ashley RubyFlame fumed, sparks flying off her skin. Even in the bitter-cold snow, she radiated heat. Though she did that a great majority of the time, now she did more than ever. Her temper often affected her magic, as magic tends to do._

 _Gabriel WinterBreeze crossed his arms stubbornly. Through his anger, the girl never noticed the tinge of sadness on his face, and that was what he intended. It didn't work to just act for yourself; you had to make others believe what you were saying, too. It was best for everyone if he went through with this, and made sure they'd never be friends again... At least, that's what his father had told him._

 _"Leave me alone!" he shouted._

 _She looked as if she were about to erupt into flames. The young girl glowed of pure fire. Through her fury, the boy never noticed how full of despair she was. A tear streaked down her cheek, but she did her best to hide it. She clenched her fists even tighter. She had to stay strong, and separate herself from those who hurt her. At least, that's what her mother had told her._

 _"Well, y-you know what?!" Ashley cried, stuttering from her anger. "I-I hate you!"_

 _The eight year old boy nodded, a mix of satisfaction and sorrow. "I hate you, too."_

* * *

Gabriel WinterBreeze woke with a start from his nightmare. He looked around the room, only for a moment wondering why everything was in green and red. From wall to wall, Christmas streamers decorated the room. The warm scent of pine-cones and happiness could be smelled a mile away.

Then he remembered. _Oh yes, it's_ Christmas _..._ He frowned. _Even worse...Christmas Eve!_ Gabriel hated this time of year. Too many bad memories...

He looked out the nearby window, and noticed it was light outside. "I suppose I might as well get up. I _do_ have that book I had planned on finishing..." He shuffled around the room, pushing red Christmas streamers and little stocking decorations littered across his desk out of the way.

"Stupid decorations..." Gabriel grumbled sourly. "All they do is just mess up my organization!" Finally, he pushed a little Christmas tree ornament off his desk, letting it clatter to the floor, and uncovered an Ice history book. "Finally!"

Aaron, Gabriel's pesky room-mate, turned over in his bed. "Mommy, are you making Polarian Toast?" he mumbled.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Nope. Sausages." he muttered sarcastically.

"You know I hate them!" Aaron complained, his voice muffled; his face was buried deep in his pillow.

"Oh, just shut up, Aaron!" he exclaimed. Finally, Aaron fully woke up.

"If I said something stupid just now, you won't tell anyone, dude, right?" Aaron asked, wide-eyed. "You know I actually have friends, right?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes again, and didn't even both to respond. It's not like he had anyone to tell. So, instead, he just buried his face in his book.

"Is that a Christmas book?" asked Aaron curiously, shoving his feet in boots. "Are you finally getting into the Christmas spirit?"

The Ice wizard merely scoffed.

"Well, I'm going out." Aaron informed him. "Bye, dude!" The door to the dorm slammed behind him.

Gabriel sunk inside his icy blue chair, finally content. Now, he didn't have bother-some wizards pestering him, and his chair was safe from the pestering decorations. At last, it was just him and his book.

But, since this is Gabriel's rotten luck we're speaking of, something just _had_ to interrupt him.

 _"We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"_ the wizards, dressed in red and green, sang outside his window.

He grimaced grumpily. Gabriel hated carolers.

Outside in the hallway of the dorms, Gabriel also heard someone trying to bring a Christmas tree into their dorm room.

 _Bang! Boom! Ow!_

The tree crashed into walls repeatedly. He growled. What was with all these loud noises?!

He leaned in to take a sip from his hot chocolate at the exact wrong moment. The Christmas tree smashed into the wall the loudest and the strongest it had yet, and Gabriel jumped, spilling his hot chocolate all over himself. "Curses!" he exclaimed.

And while he was still holding the cup, only a couple seconds afterword, the carolers sang there last verse, singing the last note so high, the cup of hot chocolate exploded!

 _Crash!_

The Thaumaturge, burned by the hot chocolate, practically exploded himself. Now, not only he was soaked, but his book was completely ruined! Hot chocolate froze over his face.

In a rage, he stormed out of his dorm room, being attacked by floating streamers. But, he was determined to stop this madness.

Standing right outside the dorms, still near the Christmas-tree-guy he fumed. Now in the center of everything, frost erupted from his finger-tips.

It was just so frustrating to him how everyone became oh so bright and cheery at this time of year. What was so special about it, anyway? Gabriel didn't understand.

All of Ravenwood had trees wrapped in lights. The schools of magic practically strangled in garlands, and the sound of bells were ringing in his ears. The only thing that didn't bother him was the fact everything was buried in blankets of snow. For some reason, all of that made Gabriel even angrier than usual.

Not just the fact that the lights hurt his eyes, or that he found the garlands tacky, or that his ears were hurting.

Everything just seemed so... _artificial._ Why was everyone so happy?

The tree banged into the wall again, and the guy screamed, "OW!"

With a deafening voice, the caroler's sang more Jingle Bells.

Gabriel could not take it anymore. "EVERYONE, JUST SHUT UP!"

The guy with the tree stopped banging it into the wall. The carolers stopped singing their song. Everyone in Ravenwood stared at the heaving Thaumaturge.

Aaron, who had not left Ravenwood yet, looked up at him. He clearly was making an expression that said something along the lines of " _Dude. What's wrong with you?_ "

Flint Legend gave an awkward laugh. "Uh...Why do you have a hot chocolate beard?"

Morgan ShadowSong, who had been laughing at her sister Haley SunBlossom trying to make a wizard shaped snow-angel just gave me a saddened frown.

David SparklePants, who had been helping to decorate the Myth school tripped and fell off the ladder when Gabriel had shouted.

Ashley RubyFlame merely shook her head. "What a Scrooge..." she muttered.

The people of Ravenwood, after a minute of silence after the Ice wizard's outburst, went back to what they were doing. It's not like Gabriel could really stop them. Frustrated, defeated, and embarrassed, he went back to his dorm. It was better for him to be alone, anyway. He knew that...

Staring up at the ceiling, Gabriel scowled. Why was everything always so simply horrid? "I hate Christmas...Bah, humbug!"


	2. Christmas Past

**Happy Holidays! (Yep. Every chapter I'll say a new thing that means Merry Christmas XD.) Thanks for the reviews, TheDiamondWriter and DiamondDestiny981! Since I gave you fruit-cake last time, I'll give you gingerbread men now!**

 ***Gives gingerbread cookies instead of showing them because I tried and they just looked like snow angels***

 **Enjoy! :D**

* * *

For the rest of the Christmas Eve, lets just say Gabriel didn't socialize very much. While the students of Ravenwood held baking contests, snowman building and ornament making competitions **(Yep. Reference intended ;D)** and organized a present-wrapping and making event, the Ice wizard merely stayed inside, watching the snowflakes fall, and reading his book.

Soon, when the stars were sparkling in the sky, the snow was almost up to the wizards' knees. Gabriel may have worried for Bartleby freezing, but the tree was protected by Dalia Falmea and the other Pyromancers with a warmth spell.

Inside his head, he heard someone Whispering to him. He recognized the voice of Aaron. _Sure you're not going to light Bartleby up?_

Gabriel sighed. Every year, the wizards of Ravenwood pooled their magic together to create eight different colored lights to decorate Bartleby with: Balance, Ice, Fire, Storm, Death, Life, Myth, and Astral. He was honestly sick of this ridiculous tradition. All it did was waste Mana and make Ravenwood too bright to sleep.

 _No._ he Whispered back to Aaron.

Fifteen minutes later, Gabriel looked up at his window to see the wizards of Wizard City gathered around Bartleby. They all raised their hands in a rising motion, and a light the color of their school became a wisp that arose from them. The wisps floated around a bit before finally resting in one of the grandfather tree's branches.

The great tree, now lit, creaked in the ground. His usual normal expression curved into a smile.

Ravenwood was filled with the cheers of many wizards.

Gabriel yawned. There was no point in staying up any later; he had finally finished all nine books he had bought the other day. Tired and grouchy, he crawled into bed and closed his eyes. Little did he know, he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night...

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Gabriel leaped out of bed. What was happening?

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

He identified it as a clock. That made sense.

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

It had rung three times now. Was it really three in the morning?

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Four. He stood still, listening for more.

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

It couldn't be five in the morning; it was still dark! But then, he remembered the fact that it was winter. The sun rose much later, now...

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Now, it was six. Why was he even paying attention? He was missing out on valuable sleep!

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

After the seventh ring of bells, Gabriel yawned and tiredly crawled back into bed. He'd still have to wait for the clock to stop ringing; he'd never be able to sleep with all that noise!

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Eight. He was _so_ tired. He must had been sleeping lightly before, though - he'd never been woken up by the bells in the past. At least, not that he could recall...

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

That was nine, now. But now, a little more awake than he had been at first, he wondered why, exactly, the bells had never woken him up before. It simply did not make sense!

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Listening to the tenth ring, he squeezed his eyes shut. Was he literally going crazy? _Had_ he been woken up by these? Was he losing his memory?

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

After the eleventh bell rang, with a horrified shock, Gabriel shed his tired state of mind completely and realized the chilling truth.

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

On the stroke of midnight, the ringing stopped, and nearly did his heart, as well.

There was no clock in all of Wizard City. The bells were ringing from _nowhere_.

 _What in the Spiral was going on?!_ Gabriel panicked. How was he hearing this?! Was this some type of horrible Christmas trick? Was this a nightmare? Gabriel did not know.

His heart pounded through his chest, going somewhere around a trillion miles an hour. Gabriel jumped, hearing another horrifying noise.

 _Clang!_

Something clattered through the dorm.

"Aaron?!" he called, trying his best to sound annoyed - but quite frankly, he was scared out of his mind. "Aaron, this isn't funny! What in the name of Kelvin the Ice tree are you doing?!" Frantically, he turned his head, searching for the Diviner.

Aaron wasn't in his bed, but he was nowhere to be seen in the rest of the dorm, either. Gabriel was _all alone..._ The thought repeated in his mind, over and over.

"Agh!" he leaped back. A shadow of some sort raced across the room, right in front of his very own eyes before Gabriel could make out what it was.

 _Clang!_

He was going to die tonight, wasn't he? Because he yelled at those carolers, something broke into his house and built a clock-tower! As stated before, nothing ever worked out for Gabriel...

He balled his fist. This was completely horrible! Angrily, he shouted, "Coward! Come out and face me!" He probably shouldn't have done that. Quick as lightning, without thinking about all the horror books he's read, he made the wrong decision: he looked behind him.

"AH!" he screamed.

Behind him stood a dark figure, with a hood pulled up over her face. Before he could say anything (more like scream), she lifted her hands up to her face. Slowly, she pulled the hood off.

And in front of him stood Ashley RubyFlame! But...there was something different about her. She seemed to be... _glowing_. And he could have sworn he saw through her. Almost like...almost like a _ghost_. But ghosts didn't exist...right?

Gabriel wasn't so sure about that anymore. "Ashley?! What are you doing here?"

The specter-Ashley put her hand up to her mouth and giggled. "I look like Ashley to you?"

He shook his head, trying to think straight. "Yes. Of course. Now answer my question!"

She smiled kindly. "I am known by the name of Holly, most of the time. But traditionally, I am _The Ghost of Christmas Past_."

All of a sudden, Gabriel burst out laughing crazily. "That's it! I'm dreaming, aren't I? All those idiotic Christmas carols got themselves into my dreams! I never get any rest, do I?"

Holly frowned. "Maybe...maybe not. Do you not wonder anything?"

He finally stopped laughing. "Fine. I'll humor you. One: Why do you look like Ashley? Two: How did I hear that clock? Three: What are you even doing here?"

She regained her grin. "I will always look like the think you remember most from your most memorable Christmas in the past! For some, I look like Father Christmas, to others, and some, I resemble a favorite toy..."

Gabriel shuddered. "That must be creepy..."

"It is. Thankfully, to you, I am a girl! And not a talking, walking, creepy toy!" she sighed in relief. "Now, to your second question. That was merely an illusion within your ears! I had to wake you up somehow, didn't I?"

He crossed his arms. "I guess so..."

"Now, to your final question! I am here because you do not know the meaning of Christmas anymore, and need to be taught a lesson in the past, present, and future. Are you ready?"

"Wow. This dream is pretty elaborate. And ready for what, exactly?"

She winked. "Ready...for...THIS!"

In a flash, she pushed him out the forth story window (though he remembered living on the first floor, just earlier this morning. Probably another one of her 'illusions'...).  
"AH!" he screamed, falling through the air.

Thankfully, he didn't get much a chance to fall. Before he knew it, she was falling at his side. Well, rather flying. An inch before landing on splat on the ground, an orange glowing portal opened up right in front of his face.

Before he could react or teleport anywhere, he fell straight into the portal. Who knew where it would lead to. Gabriel had a horrible feeling _he_ did: the worst Christmas of his entire life.

* * *

"AH!" Gabriel yelled, falling into an endless space. He past multiple worlds of the Spiral, and was lucky not to fall straight into a hot, burning, gas (otherwise known as one of Krockotopia's hottest suns), but he could hardly care. All he noticed was the fact he felt like throwing up as he shot through the dimensions of the Spiral.

"Whee!" Holly exclaimed joyfully. "So fun! I love doing this!"

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they stopped falling. Unsteadily, and still feeling like he'd lost his stomach a long time ago, Gabriel opened his eyes. "H-huh?"

Surrounding him was his old Spellementary playground. Children hung off the Monquistan bars. More children were going down the slides, while even more ran around wildly, playing tag.

He walked in a circle, staring at the sight.

Holly smiled, satisfied at is awe.

"H-how is this here?" Gabriel finally wondered. "This place was torn down ages ago! It's impossible for this to be here! Oh yes. This is just a dream. Mustn't let myself forget that..."

She rolled her eyes. "Keep tellin' yourself that. Anyways, it's not _really_ here. This is only a memory. And, no, they can't see you, before you ask!"

Gabriel mumbled, "Uh-huh...", but truly, he wasn't paying any attention to her. He wondered off to the corner of a play-ground, and stared at a sight he thought he'd never see (at least, not without a mirror): himself.

* * *

 _There he was, as a seven year old child, sitting on a bench, reading a book, making sure to avoid the other children as much as possible. Unfortunately, that didn't always work._

 _Eddie ChillWhisper and his crew, Billy Frost and Chuck Winter, the bullies of the Ice class, strutted up to him, looking as mean as a seven year old could get. "Oh, look, it's_ Bookgerm _!" he said menacingly. His crew of seven year olds guffawed stupidly._

 _Gabriel completely ignored them, and flipped to the next page of his book._

 _"Why are you_ reading _?" Eddie questioned. "Books are for losers!" Yet again, Billy and Chuck **chuck** led, sounding _really _dumb this time._

 _And, once again, Gabriel pretended they weren't event there._

 _This time, Eddie got angry. And if you were in your right mind, you didn't want to see him angry. He snatched Gabriel's book out of his hands, and threw it into the mud. Gabriel stared at his ruined book, horrified._

 _Most of the playground started laughing uproariously. Not all of it, though..._

 _"Hey!" Ashley RubyFlame exclaimed, stepping in between Eddie and Gabriel. "What do you think you're doing?!"_

 _"Hah! Standing up for the freak, are you, Ashley?" he laughed._

 _She reddened even more. "He's not a freak; you are! Now pick that up!"_

 _"Or what?"_

 _All of a sudden, flames burst into being around her hands. "Or you'll have to face the fire..." her expression darkened, lifting up her palms._

 _Eddie and his crew didn't look so brave anymore. "Dweebs!" he yelled, running away, accidental tripping once, as Ashley pretended to throw a fire-ball at him._

 _She bent over, picked up Gabriel's book, and wiped it off on her dress. "I think this is yours..." she said, handing it to the Thaumaturge._

 _"I can handle myself." Gabriel told her, taking the book back. She could obviously tell he was grateful, though._

 _"I'm Ashley. Ashley RubyFlame." she introduced, holding her hand out._

 _Figuring he probably should introduce himself, as well, he shook her hand (which was thankfully not on fire anymore) uneasily. "Gabriel WinterBreeze. Those guys are such idiots..."_

 _She smiled. "Yeah. I have a feeling we're gonna be good friends, Gabe."_

* * *

All of a sudden, the playground dissolved, and he was left in a blank white space with Holly. "You two used to be such good friends..." she muttered. "What happened?"

And like that, he knew for sure where she was going to take him next. "No...Please...Please don't..."

Holly frowned. "I'm sorry."

The blankness disappeared, and now, they were standing in Gabriel's mansion, a year after the first memory. He was arguing with his father.

* * *

 _"I am so ashamed of you!" his father, Emmett, exclaimed._

 _"Why?" Gabriel asked him, honestly bewildered by his father's sudden outburst._

 _Emmett shook his head. "Your teacher tells me you are friends with Ashley RubyFlame, a Pyromancer!"_

 _The young boy rolled his eyes. "Why can't I be friends with Fire wizards? It doesn't matter what school people are, dad! When are you going to realize that?"_

 _"No. No, it does." he protested. "You have been born into the best Ice family there is, 'WinterBreeze'! Now act like it! Pyromancers will only betray you; never trust them! It'll be best for both of you. Tell her you won't be friends with her anymore tomorrow."_

 _Gabriel still didn't believe his father. It just wasn't fair! "And what if I don't?"_

 _Emmett darkened. "Then I will have to take matters into my own hands..."_

 _He gulped. Nothing ever went well when his father 'took matters into his own hands'. Sadly, he looked down. "Okay."_

* * *

"And then what?" Holly wondered aloud.

"Don't!" Gabriel cried, lunging himself to the Ashley look-alike. "Don't you even dare!" But his pleas were not enough to stop the Ghost of Christmas Past. Once again, the memory changed, and Gabriel found himself standing in the cold of his worst Christmas ever.

* * *

 _Gabriel had to muster up the courage to do it. To make enemies with his only friend._

 _"What do you need to tell me, Gabriel?" Ashley RubyFlame asked._

 _He bit his lip. It was time. Gabriel pulled an imaginary angry expression over his face. "I don't want to be friends with you anymore!"_

 _Ashley laughed. "Yeah, sure. Anything else?"_

 _She didn't believe him. He had to be more convincing...say something horrible... "I don't! You're just a...a...you're just a stupid, idiotic, flame-throwing Fire wizard!"_

 _It had worked; she clearly didn't think he was joking anymore. Just like that, she balled her fists. "What do you mean, stupid?! Take it back!"_ _Ashley fumed, sparks flying off her skin. Even in the bitter-cold snow, she radiated heat. Though she did that a great majority of the time, now she did more than ever. Her temper often affected her magic, as emotions and magic are deeply connected._

 _Gabriel crossed his arms stubbornly. Through his mock anger, the girl never noticed the tinge of sadness on his face, and that was what he intended. It didn't work to just act for yourself; you had to make others believe what you were saying, too. It was best for everyone if he went through with this, and made sure they'd never be friends again... At least, that's what his father had told him._

 _"Leave me alone!" he shouted._

 _She looked as if she were about to erupt into flames. The young girl glowed of pure fire. Now, Gabriel noticed something he hadn't, reliving the memory in the person, instead of making it in first: A tear streaked down her cheek. How had he never noticed that? All he had ever known was that she was angry, nothing more..._

 _She clenched her fists even tighter._ _"Well, y-you know what?!" Ashley cried, stuttering from her anger. "I-I hate you!"_

 _The eight year old boy nodded, a mix of satisfaction that the worst was over, and sorrow. "I hate you, too."_

 _And, just like that, the only friend Gabriel ever had was gone. The only friend he ever had_ **hated** _him._

* * *

And then it disappeared. Though Gabriel was relieved, now free of the terrible memory, the despair in his heart was as fresh as ever. "Are you satisfied now?"

Holly remained staring where the scene had once taken place. "Oh..." she finally said. "Th-that's why...I never knew...I'm sorry..."

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Before Gabriel could realize it was one in the morning, something dreadful occurred.

Holly disappeared.

And just like that, Gabriel was all alone, stuck inside the blankness of an empty memory.


	3. Chistmas Present

**I am** ** _really_** **cutting it close this time. Gosh...I have to write these 3 chapters in one day - all on Christmas Eve, to make things worse! How am I ever Going to meet this deadline? Anyways, hopefully by the time you're reading this, I'm not procrastinating from stress and is instead working on the next chapter!**

 **Oh yes! How could I forget?! Joyeux Noel, everyone! *Gives reindeer cookies***

* * *

Everything was completely white. Blinding white. Gabriel could hardly see anything it was so bright.

 _So this is it, I suppose?_ he thought to himself, frowning. _I'm just going to be left here to rot._ "Thanks a lot, Holly!" Gabriel shouted to the endless void of nowhere.

"Ouch! Why are you yelling?" asked a voice coming from behind him.

He jumped out of his skin; another person here was the last thing he was expecting. Clenching his fists, slowly turning around, he hissed, "Holly, if that's your idea of a jok-" His eyes widened, and frankly, he didn't have the voice anymore to finish his sentence. He realized with a shock; the person here was most certainly _not_ the Ghost of Christmas Past...

Before him stood a girl with bright purple hair strung up in a ponytail behind her head, curious golden eyes, and was wearing blue and white Grizzlehiem styled armor, with hints of purple as well. He noticed a bag at her side, and it looked like it was filled with something thick...A book, perhaps?

She was still looking at him expectantly, and he realized he should probably say something. "Um, because I was angry." he plainly stated. "Who are you, may I ask?"

The girl smiled, and held out her hand. "Fiona SilverThorn; pleased to meet you!"

"Gabriel WinterBreeze."

Gabriel had always hated physical contact, but, he shook her hand anyway. Just touching her fingertips told him something: this girl had Ice magic inside of her. "I don't recognize you. What magic academy do you go to?" he asked automatically, since obviously, she was a wizard.

Fiona tilted her head, effectively giving him a sideways look. "Huh?"

"You _are_ a wizard, correct?"

She just stared at him blankly. "No?" she finally spoke uneasily. "I'm a knight in a secret group, actually!" A moment after the words leaved her lips, she covered her mouth quickly.

"What is it?" Gabriel snapped.

Still her hand covering her mouth, Fiona muffled out, "Uh, um, uh!"

Frustrated, Gabriel sighed. "You know what? Never mind. How are you here, anyway?"

Seemingly relieved, the purple haired girl dropped her hands and smiled again. "I have absolutely no idea! I was just sleeping and dreaming about my magic book - it's right here, by the way!" Out of the bag he had noticed earlier, she brought out a thick book with _A_ and _G_ on the cover. "Whenever I read a place out of it, it brings me there!" Fiona added.

Gabriel nodded. "Like teleporting..."

"Like what?" she asked, with a confused look on her face. "Never mind. Anyways, this random sentence came up: ' _Empty memory_ ', and all of a sudden I was here and you were screaming something!"

"Interesting...But now we have to figure out how to get out of here..." he murmured. This was a puzzle, indeed.

After about thirty seconds of quiet, Fiona's eyes lit up, and he could tell she had a question. "What is it?" he asked, annoyed.

"Who's Holly? I heard you say her name earlier, in case you wonder how I know."

Gabriel considered his words carefully for a few seconds, but then decided upon, "She is the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"Huh...Sounds familiar..." she muttered, tapping her finger to her chin. Gabriel envisioned a lightbulb lighting up above her head as she opened her mouth excitedly to speak. "Oh yeah! There was this book I read one time, called _A Christmas Carol_!"

"You read books?!" Gabriel asked immediately. It was a relief to finally find someone who appreciated literature.

"I love to! But that's not the point. This book was exactly like this, and there was this mean guy named Scrooge who hated Christmas. I _love_ Christmas, so I couldn't possibly be him, but what about you?"

He sighed, really regretting the fact that this book was one of the four books left in the entire Spiral he had never read. What a shame... "I hate Christmas."

"That's it, then! I must be the Ghost of Christmas Present!" As soon as she finished that sentence, her book floated out of her bag. This time, though, it was glowing. And there was another big change to it: Instead of having the letters _A_ and _G_ engraved onto the cover, it had _C_ and _P._

"For _Christmas Present_!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

Excitement replaced his bitterness, if only for a moment. _I'm finally going to get out of here!_ "Would you mind reading off ' _Wizard City,_ _Gabriel WinterBreeze's's Dorm Room_ '?" he asked, making sure he sounded extra polite.

She looked as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. She grabbed her glowing book out of the air, and flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning through the words. "I...I can't find it...It's not here!" Fiona exclaimed, surprised.

"What? No! It has to be...Let me see that!" Without a second thought, Gabriel snatched the book out of her hands, and opened it to read.

"Hey! Give it back!" she protested. "It only works when I read it, anyway!"

But he refused to listen. This _had_ to work...He couldn't just be stuck here forever... Raising the book above his head so she couldn't take it back, he realized something; she was right. It was nowhere to be found.

With a giant leap, Fiona successfully seized what was hers, and clutched it to her chest. She didn't say anything, but she was obviously angry. Gabriel decided it was for the best if he remained quiet, too. "I'm not supposed to take you to dorm, I guess..." she finally mumbled. "...Must be somewhere else..."

 _But where could it possibly be?_ Gabriel silently wondered to himself. Nothing made sense. "I guess read whatever you see first, then..." he muttered unhappily.

"Okay, I will!" After taking a deep breath, Fiona closed her eyes, and declared, "Wizard City, Myth School Tower!"

And, in a flash, they were out of the horrible place of nowhere. Soon, Gabriel would almost regret ever leaving it in the first place, though...

* * *

Gabriel blinked, and he could slowly see a place full of colors, again. It was quite a relief; he had been starting to get a headache. Mostly, he saw yellow and blue, at first, this being the Myth Tower. But then he noticed the fact that practically all of Ravenwood were here, all wearing many different colors. That almost gave him a worse headache, but he was too full of joy to be out of that awful place to notice.

He felt very unstable, and felt it unsafe to move; he may become clumsier than David SparklePants!

Unfortunately, Fiona did not make the same decision. She stumbled dizzily, and found herself tripping over a desk. "Ah!" she yelped.

Thankfully, it seemed no one noticed, judging by the fact everyone ignored them; they were completely invisible again.

"Well, that's rude..." she grumbled, dusting her blue dress off.

"They can't see us, so technically, it's not." Gabriel told her.

"Oh yeah! Well, let's go see what they're doing!" They pushed through the crowd (more like went through them) until finally, they saw something other than wizards just devouring the Pip cookies. "What a wonderful party, Aaron!" they heard a voice say.

Gabriel growled. Of _course_ this was Aaron's party.

"Why, thank you, darling! I like ketchup with my tea..." Aaron replied. He sounded like maybe, just maybe, he had a bit too much of those cookies. "...Jellybean bunnies!"

Fiona giggled. "He needs some ice-cream!"

He raised his eyebrow. "How would that help?"

She stared at him like someone had scribbled something all over his face. "Ice-cream always helps!"

"Whatever...What are we supposed to find?" Gabriel asked tiredly.

Fiona shrugged. "I think we'll know it when we see it. Or hear it. Or-"

"Let's just go!"

And so they ran, in search of something to end whatever in the Spiral's name this was.

* * *

 _This is so frustrating!_ Gabriel angrily thought as he sped through all the wizards. _We don't even have a clue what we're searching for! At least last time with Holly, I knew we were looking inside memories. Now, we could be trying to find Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey, for all I know!_

Nonetheless, his determination to rid himself of whatever this nightmare was kept him going. And thankfully, it didn't take too long to find _something_ of interest.

"Fluffy unicorns! I mean, who am I?" asked the booming voice of Aaron - who had recovered just a bit from the cookies - and even Gabriel couldn't guess what he was doing as the Divine put his hands up to his face.

"Charades!" Fiona exclaimed. "That looks like fun!"

Another wizard who was playing along happily guessed, "Peekaboo?"

Aaron roared with laughter, and shook his head. Then he made a grouchy face, and yelled, "I hate Christmas! And happiness!"

"You're not supposed to talk!" someone protested, which led to more laughter.

"A jerk!"

The purple haired Diviner declared, "Pretty much!"

"A weirdo!"

"Basically!"

"Is he friendless?"

"Yep!"

"The Grinch!"

Aaron giggled something along the lines of, "Sparkly butterflies!" before becoming understandable again and saying, "Even closer!"

"Ooh! Ooh! I know!" a new wizard yelled, jumping up and down with their hand in the air. "That Ice guy who always reads! I don't even know his name...Starts with a _G_?"

Aaron began jumping up and down as well whilst spinning in circles and screaming, "Yes! Yes! Yes!", but he fell over before anyone could slap him from their annoyance. He had passed out.

Gabriel's eyes widened. People actually thought about him this way? They couldn't remember his name? Of course, he didn't both to remember most of theirs, but still...How dare they? Gabriel was never offended, and usual just brushed things off. But this seemed to strike him differently than usual. He couldn't even muster up an insult!

Fiona slowly turned her head back to him. She seemed speechless as well. "...Wow." she finally murmured. "Why do they not like you so much?"

Gabriel tried to think of a response. "Because I don't like them." he finally stated.

"Why?"

"Because they don't like me."

She frowned. "But then it just goes over an over, like a paradox, or something! Who was mean first?"

He looked down, and tried to think. "I don't really remember."

All of a sudden, the Myth tower felt as if an earthquake had gone through it. A door had slammed open! "CHILDREN!" Cyrus Drake's voice erupted through the room. Gabriel was _very_ glad they were invisible in that moment in time. Cyrus's anger was _not_ something to mess with, especially when it involved the Myth tower. Aaron had been _such_ and idiot to throw the party _there_.

"AH!" the room was flooded with the screams of scrambling wizards, pushing past each other in an attempt to get out of there. Who knew what Cyrus would do to them?

As luck would have it, they didn't even have to stick around there invisibly. Fiona's book floated into the air again. "I guess it's time to leave again!" she exclaimed. "Now, where to next?" Closing her eyes, she flipped through the pages as if she were shuffling a deck of cards, trying to make it completely random. Only opening one eye, she peaked onto the top of the page. "The RubyFlame's House!"

And then something happened that Gabriel was starting to doubt was even possible anymore: things got even _worse_.

* * *

In a flash, they were out of the tower and into a house. Gabriel cringed. Why did it _have_ to be Ashley's house?

He smelled food coming from somewhere, and looked towards where the scent was coming from; a pot above a fireplace. He identified the room he was as the kitchen, obviously. The walls were bricks; they seemed fairly old, and looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in a while. In the center was a small dining room, and he saw an archway that led to a living room and some stairs to a bathroom. It didn't look like anything special.

A ways bit away, he heard the sound of people chatting, and not much later saw three people enter the room; an older man he figured to be Ashley's father, a little blonde girl who looked around the age of six, and of course, Ashley RubyFlame, who must have visited for Christmas Eve instead of going to Aaron's horrible party.

Again, he was very thankful they were invisible; it would have been extremely odd if she had found him randomly in her house.

"Who is she?" Fiona suddenly questioned, pointing at Ashley.

Pulled back into reality instead of observation, he plainly answered, "My enemy."

"Don't be silly! How could she be your enemy? She looks nice!"

He bit his lip. "Looks can be deceiving..."

All of a sudden, an unrecognizable voice started speaking. "Merry Christmas Eve, Daddy! Merry Christmas Eve, Ashley!" the little girl exclaimed joyfully.

The father smiled.

Ashley laughed. "You've said that a million times, Vanessa! But Merry Christmas Eve, anyway."

"Daddy! What am I getting for Christmas?" Vanessa interrogated, sounding as if she hoped to surprise him so he'd give her the answer.

Gabriel noticed that he looked away, as if he were guilty, but almost immediately he returned to his daughter's hope-full gaze. "You know it'll be a surprise, sweetie..." he finally said.

Ashley frowned. "Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"

He nodded, and they walked back out the room they had come from, leaving Vanessa behind. Gabriel and Fiona quickly followed them. "What's going on? And no lies. Just tell me." Ashley asked.

Her father sighed. "...I'm sorry. I'm not going to be able to give you a Christmas this year."

She raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't. Emmet WinterBreeze has fired me."

As Ashley gaped, and Gabriel did as well. His father had fired hers? That was...unfortunte. _But he must have had some sort of reason. He must have been a miserable worker..._ Gabriel assured himself. As bad as Emmet could be, he couldn't be that terrible...right?

"Why that miserable old..." Ashley muttered bitterly. "Now why in the name of Bartleby did he do that?!"

"I asked for Christmas day off, and he found the an unreasonable request. I'm so sorry, Ashley. Vanessa is going to be so disappointed..."

Ashley grit her teeth. "Don't be. It's Gabriel's stupid father's fault. Nothing ever isn't, it seems like..."

The words hit Gabriel like a knife to the heart. He couldn't explain why, but it hurt.

Once again, the scene faded into white blankness.

Gabriel frowned miserably, and so did Fiona. "Even more people who don't like you..." she winced. "I'm sorry."

He looked at the ground. "I suppose they have a right to...I don't do much good in the Spiral...Ever."

"You can." she started to smile, but stopped.

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

 _Ding! Dong!_

* * *

Before she could make a sound, Fiona disappeared, and Gabriel was left all alone again, fearing what would happen next...

Fearing the Future.

* * *

 **By the way, that A/N was from Christmas Eve Eve, and obviously I didn't meet my deadline x.x Oh well...**


End file.
